THE mother of a 23-year-old woman who was found hanged in a wood described her as being able to “light up every room”, an inquest heard.

Katrina Frances Fell was found unresponsive by a dog walker by the River Ribble near Waddow Hall on November 8 last year.

An inquest into Miss Fell’s death heard she had attended a friend’s flat above The Emporium, in Clitheroe, the night before she died with other friends after going out for drinks at Holmes Mill and the White Lion pub in the town.

The following day she was found hanged in the woods at around 9.25am.

At the inquest, Jaye Nelson, who was at the flat with Miss Fell and others, said people at the flat had been drinking and cocaine had been taken.

At around 7am Mr Nelson was sitting with Miss Fell on a sofa and said she became anxious and started to cry, asking to go home.

After calming her down, Mr Nelson said she left the flat and was on the phone, and he assumed she had rung a taxi.

The inquest heard she was seen by a co-worker from the Waddington Arms near Sainsbury’s in Clitheroe and got into a taxi, which she later asked to pull over near Brungerley Bridge.

Miss Fell’s mother, Angela Allen, said her “fun, kind and caring” daughter had suffered with anxiety and had previously taken an overdose while in Australia, but that was seen as a cry for help.

She said her daughter had been excited for plans to go to Amsterdam, see friends and go to Portugal in the near future.

She said: “I could not be more proud of her as a mother, she was beautiful.

“She did go to the doctors two weeks before she died.

“She was encouraged to talk to someone, to feel better.

“I don’t think under normal circumstances, without the substances she took, she would have ever done this.

“She would hate to see what she has done to herself

“She was always so thoughtful of others before herself.”

Miss Fell’s mother said she knew she had taken cocaine in the past but did not think she was taking it regularly.

Talking about her daughter taking cocaine, she said: “She did not feel well afterwards, she would be low, but not this low.

“She did not like herself afterwards, she hated disappointing people.”

The inquest heard Miss Fell was offered medication and self-referral to the mental health support network Minds Matter, but declined both and told her GP she would use exercise to cheer herself up.

Mr Nelson said he did not feel anything happened at the flat that would have made Miss Fell feel upset and was not strongly under the influence of drugs or alcohol when she left.

He said: “She was normal, I just thought she was going to go home.

“She knew what she was doing.”

When asked about cocaine, he said: “I knew she took some, but I did not know how much.”

From a statement by Harry Devine, Miss Fell’s boyfriend at the time, the inquest heard the couple had talked about going out less and drinking less in a bid to help improve Miss Fell’s mood.

The pair had also discussed a longer-term relationship and what to do at Christmas.

The inquest heard the taxi driver picked up Miss Fell at around 8.25am and she asked to go towards Waddington.

The inquest heard Miss Fell was found by a woman walking her dog near the river.

After being flown by air ambulance to hospital, staff stopped CPR after repeated attempts due to no responsive signs being shown by Miss Fell.

Toxicology reports found an amount of cocaine in her system. There was alcohol in her system but well under the legal drink-drive limit.

Assistant coroner for East Lancashire Mark Williams recorded a verdict of suicide.